Expanded-metal partition.



Patented Oct. 10, 1899.

- L. F. SYLVESTER.

EXPANDED METAL PARTITION. (Application filed Aug. 18, 1899.) (No Model.)

A/rrrigssas INVEN'S R I (vii/Mahdi, 43; MQM

confine my description to expanded-metal U ITED STATES PATENT QFF LOUIS FERNANDO SYLVESTER, or woonsooKnr, RHODE ISLAND, ASSlGNOR TO THE EASTERN OHUSETTS.

EXPANDED METAL COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSA- EXPANDED-M ETAL PARTITION. A

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Batent :No. 634,484, dated October 10, 1899.

Application filed August 18, 1399.

To all whom, it may concern..-

Be it known that I, LoUIs FERNANDO SYL VESTER, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of 'Woonsocket, county of Providence, and State of Rhode Is land, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Expanded Metal Partitions,

of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to expanded-metal or other metallic lath partitions and ceilings; and, its object is to provide a firm and durableexpanded-meta-l structure which may be erected without the use of wire ties, thus accomplishing a great saving of time and expense.

The metal partitions or ceilings to which this invention relates consist of angle-iron or T-iron supports or'furring, to which is se-' cured expanded-metal or other resilient metallic lath. Any resilient metallic lath may be used; but as I believe expanded-metal lath to be the best,adapted to my purpose I will lath.

Heretofore the lat-h was tied to the angle.- iron furring by means of annealed iron wire or other soft wire,the workman passing the end of the wire through a mesh in the lath,{ around the furring, and back through another mesh of the lath to the other sideof the furring, and then twisting or tying the ends of the wire together and cutting them 0E a suitable length with cutting-nippers. The work of tying each piece of wire was necessarily slow. It was difficult to tie the wire tight enough to secure the lath to the furring with perfect rigidity, so that it would not slip, and the wire tended to stretch, and so to loosen the lath. Moreover, the twisting of the wire to fasten it weakened it, and it frequently broke, making it necessary to do the work over again. Any wire which was light enough to be readily bent and twisted would rust out before the rest of the partition wore out, and so weakened the partition, and the cutting 0d of the ends of the wire after it was tied caused great waste of material. These disadvantages are overcome by my invention, which is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which Serial No, 727,691. No model.)

Figure 1 is a horizontal cross-section of a portionof the expanded-metal partition and viewof the clip which constitutes the fasten ing device; and Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the expanded-metal structure, showing said clip in position binding the lath to the fur ring.

A is the angle-iron furring, having the flange or web a, to which is fastened the lath.

B is a resilient metal lath, preferably expanded-metal lath.

.better advantage may be taken of the resilience of the wire of which it is composed; but they may be substantially parallel. The space between the clamping-legs b and c corresponds to the-thickness of the flange and the lath which they are intended to clamp to gether. i

The structure is erected as follows: The workman lays the resilient lath B against the flange a of the angle-iron furring A, and then seizes a clip 0 by the longer legb with a pair of;ordinary pliers. He passes the clip 0 loop foremost through a mesh in the lath adjacent tothe flange CL until the end of the shorter leg 0 will pass under the flange a, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. He then pulls the clip back into the position shown in Fig. 1, where it clamps between its two legs the lath and the furring, and is heldin place by the combined resilience of the clip 0 and of the lath B.

My invention provides a firm and durable structure which can be-erected with far greater rapidity than everbefore attained and which entirely overcomes the defects of looseness and slipping of the lath, breaking of the fastenings either in the process of erection or by rusting, and waste of material in the fastenings. The chief advantages are, I believe, the firmness and solidity of the structure, attained by the combined resilient binding of the lath B and the clip or fastening C, and

the great saving of time in the erection of the st ruoture over the old method of construction.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The combination in a metal partition, of

7 an angle-iron furring, a resilient metallic lath,

- lath clamping the latter against the flange or the furring provided with a flange or Web in contact with the metallic lath, and a fastening consisting of a resilient-wire clip the said clip having two legs or branches one passing beneath the flange or Web of the furring the other lying against the outside of the metallic an an gle-iron f urrin g, a resilient metallic lath, the furring provided with a flange or Web in contact with the metallic lath, and a fastening consisting of aresilient-wire clip the said clip having two slightly-converging legs or branches one passing beneath the flange or web of the furring the other lying against the outside of the metallic lath clamping the latterv against the flange or Web of the furring.

4. The combination in a metal partition, of an an gle-iron furrin g, aresilient metallic lath, the furring provided with a flange or Web in contact With the metallic lath, and a fastening consisting of a resilient-Wire clip the said clip having two slightly-converging legs or branches of uneven length, the shorter leg passing beneath the flange or eb of the furring, the longer leg lying against the outside of the metallic lath clampingthe latter against the flange or Webv of the fur-ring.

Signed at Boston, Massachusetts, this 16th day of August, 1899.

LOUIS FERNANDO SYLVES'lllll. Witnesses:

W. F. KEARNS, S. G. O. SWANsoN. 

